Midnight
by XoXStoryprincessXoX
Summary: It is Christmas time and Kagome receives a gift from her aunt who she has not seen for 10 years. Little does Kagome know, her gift comes to life when midnight strikes. Based on the Nutcracker story. :)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"It's snowing…" said the voice of a young teenager. She smiled gently at the snow falling outside of her window in peace and gently placed both of her hands on the cold window. The peace was abruptly disrupted when her rather annoying brother, Souta, shouted loudly from his room.

"Kagome! Mom says to get ready for the party tonight!"

Kagome irritatedly sighed and got up from her seat next to the window and started making her way to her room. Her annoyance didn't last that long now that she remembered that it was Christmas eve; the night before her most favorite day of the year. She also remembered that her household is having a party. Friends and family from everywhere will be attending. Out of all her family members, she was mostly excited to see her Auntie Kaede.

For the first time in a long time, Kagome gets to see her Aunt who has traveled all around Europe for 10 years straight. She loved her uncle a lot. Ever since she could remember, her auntie told the greatest stories that helped her go to sleep at night and she cannot wait to hear the stories of her travels when she arrives.

"Kagome, you're still not dressed?" Kagome's mother, Mrs. Higurashi, said in a concerned voice. "The guests are going to be here any minute now."

"Yes mom, I was just on my way to my bedroom. I promise I'll be ready in a bit." said Kagome. Kagome was walking up the stairs and just as she got to the last step, her mother says, "Oh Kagome, I forgot to tell you that your cousin Kikyo is coming too."

Kagome's face crinkled up a bit. She hated her cousin. Ever since she could remember, she was always compared to by her cousin because of how "perfect" she is. From her looks to her personality. Kagome assumes that is where her insecurities come from. Very often, her family members would compare Kagome to her cousin, including her own mother.

"Oh… that's nice." Kagome only said, trying not to crinkle up her face any further then went up to her bedroom. Once she was out of her mother's sight, she rolled her eyes then entered into her room to get ready for the Christmas party.

⊰ . . . . . ⊱

As the party was going on, Kagome sat on the seat by the window, watching the snow fall down and of course waiting for her auntie's arrival. The party started hours ago and she still has not shown up.

'Maybe she's running a little late…' Kagome thought, reassuring herself. She sighed softly then looked away from the window and across the room at Kikyo flirting with some guys. Once again, Kagome's face crinkled as she watched her cousin flirtatiously laugh and drink her punch. Kagome rolled her eyes and imitated her cousin mockingly then scoffed. She then turned her attention back to the window and found someone walking up to her house; it was her auntie!

"Auntie Kaede is here!" Kagome exclaimed excitedly as she got up from her seat by the window and ran to the door. As soon as she was about to open the front door, Souta got in the way and placed his hand on the knob before she could and exclaimed, "I'll get it!"

Immediately after Souta opened the door, him and Kagome were greeted by a warm, gleeful smile.

"Why hello children!" exclaimed aunt Kaede.

"Auntie Kaede!" exclaimed both Souta and Kagome and gave their aunt a hug. Their aunt gladly returned their hug then took a look at them.

"My how you've two have grown!" exclaimed their aunt. "I remember when you were only 3 years old, Souta, I doubt you even remember me." Their aunt laughed gently and gave a kiss on Souta's cheek.

"Of course I remember my auntie!" Souta said smiling. "Do I get a present as a reward for remembering you?!"

"Souta!" Kagome cried out angrily.

Their aunt only laughed and replied, "Why yes I do, my nephew!" She then took out her huge purse and took out a beautifully wrapped present that was the color blue and gave it to Souta.

"Wow, thanks auntie!" exclaimed Souta excitedly.

Kagome watched her brother run off with his present and rolled her eyes.

"Little brothers…"

"Ah, don't worry about it too much, my dear. He's only 13 years old; he's got many years ahead to mature up. But for now, just let him be a little boy that he is." Her aunt gave a little smile.

Kagome sighed gently and replied, "yeah, you're probably right. Boys will be boys, I suppose." Kagome gave a little laugh.

"Oh my dear Kagome," her aunt said gently and hugged her, "I missed you so much. You've grown out to be a beautiful young 15 year old, like I've always imagined you'd be."

"Oh auntie Kaede… I'm not that beautiful… at least not like-"

"Auntie Kaede!" exclaimed a voice.

Kagome quickly turned around and saw her cousin Kikyo walk up to the both of them with a smile on her face.

Kagome rolled her eyes and watched her walk up to the both of them.

"Ah, my dear Kikyo!" exclaimed aunt Kaede and gave Kikyo a soft hug. "How have you been my dear?"

"I've been doing wonderful, thanks for asking auntie Kaede!" replied Kikyo still smiling sweetly as ever.

Kagome couldn't help but feel jealous of what's going on between her aunt and her cousin Kikyo. For a moment, she felt replaced and let down.

"Kikyo, I brought you a present as well." said aunt Kaede and took out another present from her purse and gave it to Kikyo.

Kikyo gasped at the present and took it off aunt Kaede's hands.

"Why thank you, auntie! I wonder what it is!"

Her aunt laughed joyfully and said, "Why don't you find out for yourself right now?"

"Really?! Alright!" Kikyo happily unwrapped her present and opened the box to find something precious in the box. "Oh my, it's a beautiful dress! I love it auntie, thank you! I'm going to try it on right now!"

With that said, she took the dress and ran off with it to try it on.

Kagome felt a bit sadden just watching her cousin walk away with that beautiful dress. She wanted that dress too, but sadly she was too young for that kind of stuff, according to her parents.

Noticing the sadness in Kagome's eyes, her auntie said, "my dear, don't feel sadden for I got you a gift as well."

Kagome's eyes widen. "R-Really? You got me a gift too?!"

Her aunt nodded. "Why yes Kagome, I did. And I think you're gonna like it."

With that said, she took out yet another present from her purse and handed it to Kagome. Kagome gently took it off of her aunt's hands and looked at it.

"I-Is it alright… if I open it?"

Her aunt laughed gently. "Of course you can open it!"

Kagome smiled widely and sat on the floor and opened it in front of her aunt. As soon as she unwrapped and opened the box, she picked up a male wooden figure with silver hair and a red kimono. Kagome stayed silent for a moment and felt an utter disappointment.

"A… doll?" Kagome said trying to not said disappointed. "That's… very nice. Thank you auntie." Kagome smiled and put it back into the box.

"Now, I know what you're thinking," her auntie said then sat next to her. "You're probably thinking that it's a doll just for little girls, but it's really not."

Kagome looked up at her auntie confused as ever by what she means.

"You see, there's a story behind this wooden figure." Her auntie continued.

"A story?" asked Kagome.

"Yes, a story. Would you like to hear all about it?"

Kagome nodded and sat closer to her aunt.

Her aunt cleared her throat and began, "There once was a prince of Feudal Japan. He was a unique prince, not like any other prince, oh no. He was sweet and kind, not the mention, a helpless romantic. His dream was to get married to the girl of his dreams. Down to earth and a helpless romantic, but not normal. You see, he was born with dog ears. It was due to his parents, the king and queen, getting cursed by the evil sorcerer who was jealous of what both the king and queen had. But instead of taking his anger on them and casting a spell on both of them, he casted a spell on their son and gave him dog ears. He thought his curse on the prince would anger both him and the king and queen for as long as they lived, but it did not. No, the future king of Japan was still kind of as ever and was thankful for the life he was given, which made his parents happy. Angered by the prince's benevolence and the king and queen's happiness, he casted another curse on the prince and turned him into a wooden figure then threw him into the river and never was seen again. The only way to break the curse is to find true love, which was something he longed for, but can't get because he was just a wooden figure. And…"

Kagome's aunt stopped for a moment.

Impatiently, Kagome asked, "What?! What happens next?"

Kagome's aunt laughed at her niece's impatience then continued what she was gonna say. "That's all there is to the story."

"Oh Aunt Kaede, you must be joking around! There's gotta be a good ending to this story!"

"I'm afraid not dear," Kagome's aunt said as she stroked her hair. "That's all the shop owner told me. And she also said-"

"Said what?! Tell me!"

Kagome aunt started laughing again. "Now, now hold your horses, I was just about to tell you. Now what I was saying is that she found the wooden figure in some river somewhere."

"Really? So it's a true story then?"

"Oh my dear, I doubt it. I bought this wooden figure because I knew you liked stories, especially ones with handsome characters in them too." She then took the wooden figure out of the box and handed it to Kagome.

Kagome took it off Aunt Kaede's hands and held it close to her. "Thank you so much Auntie, I really love this gift." She then gave her aunt a hug, still holding the wooden figure close to her.

"That makes me happy to see you're happy with the gift." said Aunt Kaede returning the hug.

Kagome broke apart her hug with her aunt as soon as she heard someone clearing their throat next to them. She looked up to see who it is and it was her cousin Kikyo back, but with the dress Aunt Kaede bought for her.

Once Kikyo got her aunt's attention, she started spinning around, showing off her dress. "So what do you think?"

"It looks gorgeous on you, Kikyo dear." Kagome's aunt said smiling wide.

Kagome only rolled her eyes and walked away from the twirling Kikyo.

⊰ . . . . . ⊱

As the party was going on, Kagome was walking around the party holding her present. As she was walking around with her gift, people were admiring her present. But of course, her glory to show off her present lasts till Kikyo shows up, as well showing off her present to everyone at the party. Kagome wasn't as annoyed as she'd normally be. She was too happy with her gift.

Kagome then felt thirsty then made her way to the table full of drinks and food. She grabbed a cup and poured punch into her cup. After pouring punch into her cup, she looked up and saw Kikyo standing right next to her.

Kagome didn't know what to say so she stayed silent.

Kikyo only smiled and said, "Why hello cousin."

"Hello Kikyo." Kagome replied, fake smiling.

Just as Kagome was about to walk away, Kikyo said, "You know you're not that special as I am."

Kagome's eyes widen. She was shocked to hear that coming from her "perfect" cousin. Kagome slowly turned around to face Kikyo.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, cousin." Kikyo said, provokingly smirk. "We both know that our family relatives loves me more, including our auntie."

Kagome felt anger rise up inside of her. "Our auntie loves both of us equally, not more, not less. She gave us both presents."

"Yeah, true." Kikyo got a little closer to Kagome's face. "But auntie gave me a better gift than this piece of garbage."

With that said, she took the wooden figure out of Kagome's arms and broke its arm. Kagome gasped loudly in shock. Kikyo then dropped both the wooden figure and its arm on the floor and laughed. Just as she was about to walk away, Kagome grabbed her new dress and tugged on it hard. Kikyo angrily screamed which caused family relatives to look at the both of them.

"Let go, Kagome!"

Disobediently, she did not let go. She kept tugging and tugging until a part of the dress ripped off.

"Ugh! You treacherous little bitch!" Kikyo screamed loudly. Kikyo then took the part of the dress that ripped off and stormed off somewhere else away from Kagome. Kagome fell to her knees next to her broken present. She felt tears roll down her cheeks as she picked up the arm to the wooden figure and held it close to her.

Kagome didn't look up at the family members that were standing before her in shock. But when she did, she saw her mother make her way through the crowd, not with a shocked expression on her face, but anger.

Kagome picked up her broken present and stood up, still with tears in her eyes. "M-Mother… I… I didn't mean to…"

Kagome's mother stayed silent for a couple of seconds then exploded. "Go to your room!"

"B-But mom… she started-"

"Do as you're told!"

Just as Kagome was about to make her way to her bedroom, her mother took her present away from her arms.

"M-Mom! That's my present!"

"I don't care! You will get this back when you've learned to behave like a young woman you're supposed to be!"

Kagome felt anger heat up inside of her and at the same time sadness. She ran to her room, still crying her eyes out.

'Everything is unfair… really unfair.'

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

For the rest of the party, Kagome was upstairs crying on her bed. She was not only sad at the fact that her present was taken away from her, but she was as well angry at her mom for being on Kikyo's side.

Kagome wiped away her tears and held her pillow tightly and thought, 'Everything is so unfair. Why must I be punished for something I did not even start…'

Kagome held her pillow even tighter and held it closer to her. She felt her eyes sting in pain from crying too much.

'Maybe Kikyo is right… maybe I am not as special as she is. Maybe auntie gave me a crappy present because she felt sorry for me. Maybe I'm nothing to anyone…'

Kagome then thought of her cousin and compared herself to her. From her long, silky, black hair to her beautiful painted feet. She felt nothing but rage the more she thought about her perfect her cousin is.

'I hate her…' Kagome thought over and over and over again. 'I wish she never existed… then maybe I would've been the one everyone prefered…' She clutched onto her pillow tightly and closed her eyes to prevent the sting in her eyes from hurting.

She didn't leave her eyes closed for long, for she heard footsteps going up the steps and toward her door. She sat up hoping that it was her mother coming into her room to apologize. Once her bedroom door opened, she saw her aunt Kaede.

Disappointed that it wasn't her mother, Kagome went back to lying on her side, with her back facing her aunt in silence.

"Kagome dear…"

Kagome didn't respond to her aunt.

Kagome then heard her aunt's footsteps move toward her bed then felt her aunt sit beside her bed.

"Kagome dear," her aunt said again softly. "I am so sorry for what has happened tonight."

Kagome didn't look up at her aunt and stayed silent.

Her aunt sighed then said, "Kagome… are you mad at me?"

Kagome felt a wave anger hit her and snapped. "Of course I am! You and everyone else in this stupid family treat me as if I'm lower than Kikyo and spoil her till no end and because of that, I have to deal with the monster that she is!"

Aunt Kaede's eyes widen as she heard her niece yell at her for the first time.

Kagome didn't say anything further and went back to lying down on her side.

Kagome's aunt stayed silent for a bit then said, "Kagome… you know I love both of you equally, whether or not it was Kikyo's or your fault. You both are my nieces… I can't just pick one to be my favorite, it wouldn't be right."

"You and everyone else picked Kikyo to be your favorite with all due respect, auntie." Kagome said, not looking at her.

Kaede sighed. "You know I love you just as much as Kikyo, no more nor less. I would never exclude you, dear."

Kagome once again didn't respond and stayed silent. Giving up, Kaede got up and walked toward Kagome's bedroom door.

Before Kaede left the room, she looked back at Kagome's back and thought, 'Please… prevent her from hating after this.'

Kaede blew a kiss toward Kagome and closed the door silently behind her.

⊰ . . . . . ⊱

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

Kagome quickly opened her eyes, for she was awoken by the sound of ticking. Kagome sat up slowly and looked for her pocket watch. She picked it up and looked at the time.

'11:58…' Kagome thought reading the time. 'I only got 3 hours of sleep? Wow. Seemed like hours.'

Kagome then looked down at herself and saw that she was wearing her comfy nightgown.

'Huh… I don't remember sleeping in my pajamas.'

Confused and thirsty, Kagome got out of bed slowly then walked towards her door and opened it. She looked down the hallway from left to right to see if anyone of her family members were awake. Once she saw the cost was clear, she walked out of her bedroom and quietly went down the stairs.

When Kagome was making her way toward the kitchen to get a glass of water, she stopped midway and looked to her left. There was her present was all fixed up and in a glass container that her mother owned.

Without hesitation, Kagome tip-toed silently toward the glass container and lifted up the glass case. She carefully and quietly placed the glass case on the floor and picked up her present.

"Who does my mom think she is to put my present in her glass container." Kagome said quietly then scoffed.

Kagome, forgetting that she was thirsty, held her present tightly toward her chest and whispered, "I missed you so much… it felt really lonely without you, wooden prince…"

DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING.

Startled by the loud clock, she dropped her present.

'Ugh, why is this clock so darn loud!' Kagome thought annoyed.

Worried that her mother might come down stairs and see her, she quickly picked up her present and put it back in the glass container where her mother left it. Quickly but silently, Kagome started up the stairs.

Not long after she started taking her first step, she felt as if the stairs were getting higher.

'Huh…' Kagome thought. 'I must be more tired than I thought.'

Without thinking too much about it, she continued up the stairs. But with each step she took, the steps kept getting bigger and bigger. Kagome paused on her fifth step and looked down and realized that she was… shrinking?!

"W-What's going on?!" Kagome yelled.

She kept shrinking and shrinking until she no longer was able to take another step up the stairs.

"W-What?! Why?! HOW?!"

Freaking out, Kagome slipped herself down the five steps of the stairs and ran into the living room. Everything around her was huge and tall.

Kagome panicked and looked around wildly. "This is impossible! How can this be?! This…"

Kagome then thought of something that maybe the solution to all of this happening. "Of course… this is just a dream! Yes! I have to wake myself up and then I'll find myself on my bed!"

Sticking to that thought, Kagome started slapping herself in the face and telling herself to wake up over and over again. She then closed her eyes and whispered to herself softly, "This is all just a dream. You will open your eyes and be in your bed. On the count of three, you will open your eyes and all of this will be gone. One… two… thr-"

Instead of opening her eyes on the count of three, she opened her eyes to the loud explosion on the other side of the living room.

Curious to what it was, Kagome ran toward the explosion and saw the figure of a person the same size as she was inside the cloud of smoke.

For a moment, Kagome felt a tinge of relief as she saw someone else the same size as she was. Without hesitation, Kagome ran toward the figure.

"Thank goodness there's someone else who's the same size as me!" Kagome said, happily. "Do you know how to get out of here?"

The figure did not say anything. Once the smoke cleared out of the way, Kagome saw a man stand before her. She all of a sudden had suspicions about him and felt as if it was a bad idea to acknowledge that she was here.

The man smirked and walked closer to Kagome. The closer the man got to her, the more sick she felt. Too scared to run away, she stood there. She felt as if her whole body was paralyzed just by looking at his presence.

The man stopped right in front of Kagome, barely even one 1 inch away from her and looked down at her.

"You need help, you say, hmm?" said the man, still smirking.

Kagome didn't say anything, but just started at him. She looked into his red blood colored eyes and saw the danger in them. This man could not be trusted, she had a gut feeling. Not only did she feel her body being paralyzed, but she felt her throat being paralyzed as well. But maybe she thinks it's a good idea to stay silent.

The man smirked and lowly chuckled. "My don't you remind me of a mouse… so quiet and so weak."

Without warning, Naraku grabbed Kagome by the neck and lifted her up in the air. Kagome felt herself choking in his grip and struggled to get his hands off of her, but it was no use. He was too strong for her. He was not human at all. He was too strong to be a human.

Still choking, Kagome asked, "W-What are you…?"

The man chucked evilly then said, "If you must know, my name is-"

The man was all of a sudden interrupted by the sound of the glass container shaking violently. The man then let Kagome go and let her fall to the ground. Kagome coughed loudly, trying to catch her breath again. Then she looked up at the man who was looking at the glass container shaking.

Then all of a sudden, glass shards exploded everywhere then came a loud shout.

"NARAKUUUUUUU."

Kagome's eyes widen as she saw who yelled out just now.

"M-My wooden prince…?!"

 **To be continued…**


End file.
